American Airlines crashed at the end October due to insufficient cabin crew. This happened after a June meltdown due to a shortage of Boeing 737 pilots. United Airlines sent an email blast to all customers, shaming them and suggesting that they book United Airlines for their holidays.
American Airlines will spend money to avoid a repeat of October's flight attendant disaster.
Lineholders will be paid 150% (50% credit, 50% no credit) for any sequences (greater than the actual or scheduled time flown) that the Lineholder flies during the Holiday Peak Periods. These Holiday Peak Periods are November 23-2021 through November 29 2021.
December 22, 2021 through January 2, 2022. Lineholders and Reserves who maintain a schedule and have not had any absences/removals between November 15 and January 2, 2022 will be paid an additional 150%. This totals to 300% pay (100% credit, 200% no credit), for time flown (including standby), on any day during Holiday Peak Periods (November 23-November 29 and December 22-January 2.
American will also confirm space for crew to fly to their destinations. This is a crucial piece of reliability. Many flights were cancelled because of a lack of crew. This is often due to American Airlines changing trips at the last minute and crew being available for flights after non-revs had been cleared onto planes.
It is costly to take up revenue seats for employees flying during peak holiday periods where most flights sell out. Cancelling flights can also be expensive.
The Company will provide inbound Positive (A12) travel on American Airlines mainline and PSA to Commuters who fly a sequence/standby shift between their home and the Commuters base for the purpose operating the sequence/standby shift. You may also request positive space travel to your first or last scheduled Reserve Availability Periods (RAP) within your reserve block.
These actions will help ensure a reliable operation by encouraging crew to take on extra shifts and not to call in sick to work shifts they don't want to. It also makes it possible for crew to get to their destinations in the first place.
Other work groups also receive premium holiday pay, but this can be costly.
This also shows how badly American managed its workforce. They didn't keep everyone on the ground and ready for flight once customers returned. Instead, they rebuilt their schedules and used the $10 billion of taxpayer money to pay them. They are spending less of the Payroll Support 2/3 cash on incremental staffing, which is good, considering that most of the money was used to pay for payroll costs, which they had already incurred, subsidizing creditors and shareholders.
